for women forcibly displaced by conflict, access to emergency contraception (EC) is not only a right, but also a critical need that can help to maintain and improve their reproductive health. Refugee and IDP women who are not granted access to EC are deprived of their right to reproductive health, as they may be forced to experience an unwanted pregnancy and may, as a result, suffer or die from childbirth or abortion complications.

While maternal mortality is a common cause of death among women living in resourcepoor settings, the stressful living conditions of displaced women make delivering a child even more difficult and life threatening. By offering a “second chance” to those whose regular contraceptive method has failed, EC provides a woman or adolescent girl with the opportunity to avoid an unplanned or forced pregnancy and can reduce her risk of death or illness due to complications from childbirth or unsafe abortion.

War and conflict increase incidents of rape and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV); this dire reality is reflected in an increasing number of documented reports and research.Women and adolescents are especially vulnerable to sexual abuse committed by combatants.The use of rape as a weapon of war has been documented during the conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. According to a recent study in Sierra Leone, war-related sexual violence was widespread among women who were internally displaced by the conflict.The prevalence of sexual violence, including rape, committed by
combatants was found to be 9 percent during the past 10 years of war, equaling Sierra Leone’s lifetime prevalence of non-war-related sexual assaults. Research in Tanzania in 1997 found that almost 28 percent of Burundian refugee women of reproductive age had been raped since becoming refugees. A 1982 study of Guatemalan refugee women found that their most overwhelming fear was of being raped.

The module is ideal for providers working in conflict-affected situations who wish to learn about EC, need to refresh their current level of knowledge and/or would like to incorporate EC services into their reproductive health care programs. Appropriate users of this module include family planning staff, community health workers, health educators, counselors, trainers, program managers, nurses, doctors, midwives and other health care personnel working in conflict-affected settings.The module would also be useful in providing information and training to a multisectoral response team, which may include protection officers, nongovernmental and government authorities, and other humanitarian partners in the education and community service sectors.The Resources section at the end of this module provides a list of learning materials useful for those needing more extensive background information on basic reproductive health topics.

Author: The Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium

Descargar archivo